Hero Factory
Hero Factory (stylized as HERO FACTORY) is a line of toys by the LEGo Group marketed primarily at 6 to 16-year-olds. It was created in response to the decision to discontinue the Bionicle theme in early 2010. plot Far away in an entirely different galaxy to our own, there lies the surreal and high-tech Makuhero City, home to the Hero Factory, where new robotic heroes, powered by a strange semi-sentient material called quaza, are built every day. The factory was created by the wise architect of Makuhero City, the philanthropic Mr. Makuro, with the intention of upholding peace and prosperity throughout the universe, fighting the worst villains and monsters from all over the galaxy. The main story revolves around the Hero Factory Alpha Team and their allied rookie heroes combating evil on several different planets. 2010 - Rise of the Rookies A rogue hero from Stormer's past, Von Ness, who disappeared after abandoning Stormer and leaving his team leader to die, returns to get revenge on his former team member, changing his name to "Von Nebula" in the process, hearkening to his new-found, deadly ability to create black holes. Stormer, his current teammates Bulk and Stringer and three rookie heroes, Furno, Surge and Breez, take on Von Nebula's hired criminals, XPlode, Rotor, Meltdown, Corroder and Thunder in a number of locations across the galaxy, at one point corrupting Stormer, turning him evil against his own will. Furno encourages him to fight the possession until they get back to Hero Factory, where he is given an antidote. The heroes then come into contact with Von Nebula himself through a black hole in New Stellac City, the place where he went rogue a number of years before. Stormer and Furno jump into the black hole to settle a score, leaving the other heroes to take out his thugs once and for all. After a tedious encounter with Von Nebula, Furno uses anti-gravity thruster rings on his and Stormer's boots to repel the black hole, while Stormer uses Von Nebula's black hole orb staff to imprison him. Returning unharmed to their fellow heroes, they discover they have captured the other villains. As they return, the heroes are met with a news reporter covering their mission, and the Alpha Team introduce the new rookie Heroes. 2011 - Ordeal of Fire/Savage Planet When Refueling Depot Tanker Station 22 is attacked, Stormer, Furno, Surge and Breez depart to rescue the civilians and capture the villains behind the assault. When they arrive, they realize that the perpetrators of the destruction are the mysterious "Fire Lord" and his henchmen Drilldozer, Nitroblast and Jetbug, trying to steal the depot's Hero Pod fuel to power themselves. Meanwhile in Makuhero City, Mr. Makuro unveils the first two heroes using Hero Factory's new building system, Nex 2.0 and Evo 2.0, at an official press conference. Back at Tanker Station 22, when trying to take down the villains, the heroes realize their weapons are useless against the Fire Villain's armor and power, causing them to abandon the attack and focus on rescuing the civilians. Showing no mercy, the villains surround the heroes and civilians, planning to kill them all. However, after feeling useless, Surge decides to sacrifice himself to save the others, destroying some fuel to grasp the cronies' attention. On Fire Lord's command, all four villains begin to gun Surge down. Despite this, Stormer still orders the heroes to retreat to their Hero Craft with the civilians, and to return for Surge later. When they reach Hero Factory, Stormer demands the upgrade, and after being denied once by Mr. Makuro is accepted. After the upgrade process is done, they take time to acclimatise to their new bodies and features, then head back to Tanker Station 22. At first they go for a stealthy approach, until Furno misuses his new weapon and gets noticed by Nitroblast. Stormer then attacks Fire Lord himself, knocking him over. In the midst of a long battle, Fire Lord explains to Stormer that the villains have an addiction to power, due to their circuits becoming corrupted, so they cannot stop consuming fuel. Meanwhile, Furno and Breez are fused together by Jetbug's Fuel Supply Ship, unluckily just as Drilldozer begins his attack, while Stormer is about to be dropped off the edge of the station. All seems lost until a Hero Pod carrying Evo and Nex distracts the villains, allowing Stormer to escape, and his fellow heroes to take down Drilldozer. After his minions are defeated, Fire Lord starts to absorb all the fuel from the heart of the station, making himself too powerful to defeat. Fortunately, Surge drives a ship directly towards Fire Lord, surprising and weakening him enough so Stormer can defeat him. In the end, Surge gets the 2.0 upgrade and all of the fire villains are taken into custody and to have their circuits repaired. After completing a mission, new hero Rocka picks up a distress call from Aldous Witch, a professor who had been banished from the Hero Factory. Going against orders, Rocka heads towards the jungle planet Quatros to save Aldous Witch. Upon landing, Rocka is attacked by a group of Fangz, under the control of Aldous, who had transformed into Witch Doctor. Back at the Hero Factory, Stormer, Furno, Bulk, Stringer, and Nex are equipped with new weapons and armor and sent to Quatros to save Rocka. They find Rocka and also learn about Witch Doctor, and his plan to harvest all the quaza from the planet, which will kill it. After giving Rocka his 3.0 armor, the heroes locate an ancient transporter that will take them to a temple where Witch Doctor is loading quaza. The heroes split into 2 teams: Furno, Stringer and Nex, and Rocka, Stormer and Bulk. Furno's team explores the jungle while Rocka's team takes the transportation system to the temple, but are shrunk in the process. While exploring, Furno's team is attacked by a Waspix and a Scorpio. After a quick battle, Furno removes the quaza spikes from Waspix, releasing it from Witch Doctor's power. They then head for the temple, where Rocka and Bulk have been captured by Witch Doctor. At the temple, Furno and Stringer remove a quaza spike from Scorpio, and it attacks Witch Doctor. Witch Doctor turns Raw-Jaw against the Scorpio while his blimp containing all of the planet's quaza starts to lift off. Nex re-powers the transporter, and brings Stormer, Bulk, and Rocka back to normal size. While Stormer attacks Witch Doctor, Furno, Nex and Rocka decide to surprise Witch Doctor. Rocka emerges from the temple in his XL form, and charges. They briefly fight, and as Witch Doctor is about to strike Rocka, Stormer steals his staff and breaks it into pieces. Bulk and Furno get the blimp to fall into the temple, releasing the quaza back into the planet. They leave the planet with Witch Doctor in custody, and the planet heals itself once more. 2012 - Breakout When the seemingly trapped villain Voltix activates Von Nebula's Black Hole Orb Staff, it causes a mass security breach in the prison facility of Hero Factory, allowing all of the captured criminals to escape through the black hole created in the prison. The leader of the breakout is the malevolent Black Phantom, who stays and infiltrates Hero Factory with the intention of destroying it, while all Heroes, apart from Rocka, are sent on missions to re-capture the escaped villains. Stormer is dispatched to apprehend Speeda Demon on planet Kollix IV, Furno is sent to re-capture Jawblade on Scylla, Evo is dispatched to re-capture Toxic Reapa on his home planet, Z'chaya, Surge is sent to apprehend Splitface on the Sigma Sigma Communications Satellite, and Stringer is dispatched to apprehend Voltix on Tansari VI. Once they have apprehended their respective criminals, the five Heroes return to Hero Factory to help Rocka fight against Black Phantom. With Black Phantom apprehended, it is revealed that the whole breakout was a huge distraction, enabling an outside force to steal the plans for Hero Factory. The plot continues in the second wave of sets, though it is told through the books in the series rather than the TV episodes. 2013 - Brain Attack The plot, as shown in the preview trailer, revolves around evil insectile brain-like parasites created in secret by the mysterious villain from the end of the Breakout movie. The creatures jump onto harmless creatures on various planets and take control, mutating them into vicious soldiers. The pictures so far released show that the Heroes (Breez, Bulk, Rocka, and Furno XL) look more like fantasy beast slayers, with elemental swords, capes, visors and shields. Their modified 1.0 helmets are now equipped with transparent tops. In the episode preview, there is seen what could be part of a next wave of Brain Attack sets: those shown are Stormer, Evo, Surge, Frost Beast, Aquagon, and Dragon Bolt. Each villain set seems to contain one of these 'parasites' as a collectable. The sets have hero cores in them which can be used for the new Brain Attack online game. The story and sets will apparently continue to the second wave of sets in summer. Characters Heroes Alpha 1 Team *'Preston Stormer': Leader of Hero Factory's prestigious Alpha 1 Team. Considered by many to be the greatest Hero of the modern age, Stormer has completed several missions in his time as Alpha 1 Team leader. Dedicated and no-nonsense, Stormer has displayed a remarkable sense of loyalty. However, Stormer is secretly shaken by the Von Ness mission, and he feels that he could have done something to prevent his friend from going rogue. Stormer later found out that Von Ness had been transformed into the evil Von Nebula, and was the principal target of Von Nebula's campaign against Hero Factory. Stormer defeated Von Nebula and his henchmen with the aid of William Furno and the other rookies, promoting them afterward to full-fledged heroes. He is armed with an ice blade weapon that can double as a blaster, a sword with a saw and a grappling hook. He was dispatched alongside Surge, Breez and Furno to defend Tanker Station 22 from the Fire Villains, and saw their failure first-hand. He was upgraded to 2.0 with the same system used for Nex and Evo and rearmed with a version of the multi-tool ice shield with a freezing super blade, a tube that connects from his core and two ice spikes. He has recently been upgraded to 3.0 and has now got an animal-controlling helmet, that resembles a rhinoceros head, and dual fold-out blades so he can stop Witch Doctor. In his Breakout form, Stormer was released as an XL figure and carries a sword and plasma gun. He will appear in the second wave of the 2013 Brain Attack theme. He is voiced by John Schneider in the TV series. *'Dunkan Bulk': A member of Hero Factory's prestigious Alpha 1 Team. Bulk is physically the factory's strongest hero. He is armed with a metal sphere shooter with mini-lasers as a 1.0 model. It is unknown what happened to him during the attack on Tanker Station 22, but he got the 2.0 upgrade eventually. Recently, he was upgraded to 3.0 to stop Witch Doctor. Now at 3.0, he has a helmet that resembles a wolf and wrist-mounted blades. In his Breakout form, Bulk has hero-cuffs and a weapon mounted on his shoulder that launches rockets and will apprehend Core Hunter. He is voiced by Christopher B. Duncan in the TV series. Bulk will appear in the 2013 Brain Attack theme. *'Jimi Stringer': A member of Hero Factory's prestigious Alpha 1 Team. Stringer is the only Hero who actually enjoys working with rookies. Laid back with an extensive knowledge of sound, Stringer is an experienced musician. He is armed with a sonic weapon that shoots sonic sound blasts, has a smaller sonic weapon with longer range, and a little electric gadget as a 1.0 model. It is unknown what happened to him during the attack on Tanker Station 22, but he got the 2.0 upgrade eventually. Recently, he was upgraded to 3.0 to stop Witch Doctor. In 3.0, he had a helmet that resembled a black bear and a triple-bladed bear claw. In his Breakout form, Stringer carries a Sonic sound blaster and is recently captured Voltix. He is voiced by Stephen Stanton in the TV series. *'William Furno': William is very loyal to his teammates and, when he was a rookie, fought hard to earn Stormer's respect. When he was first activated, his Hero Core charge exceeded the normal blast. This caused scientists to believe that Furno had a special destiny. Furno can sometimes overexert himself during missions, leaving him physically drained, but he displayed incredible valor during the battles with Von Nebula and was recognized by Stormer as a full-fledged hero. He was armed with a dual-fire shooter that shoots heated coils of plasma and can work like a flame-thrower or a sword, owns his own motorcycle called the Furno Bike with dual plasma shooters, and was dispatched alongside Surge, Breez and Stormer to defend Tanker Station 22 from the fire villains. He too was upgraded to 2.0 and rearmed with his own version of the multi-tool ice shield with rotating climbing hooks and ice power-up. Recently, he was upgraded to 3.0 to stop Witch Doctor. At 3.0, he had a plasma bow and a helmet that resembled an eagle. In his Breakout form, he has an plasma blaster modified for being underwater, Hero-Cuffs, and aqua jets on his back for speed. He used his upgraded form to capture Jawblade. Furno will appear in the 2013 Brain Attack theme as an XL. He is voiced by Eric Christian Olsen in the TV series. He was also assigned as a team leader. *'Natalie Breez': The only female member of the Alpha 1 Team, Breez is extremely agile and a skilled diplomat. She has an ability to talk with 180,000 species of wild animals such as the Tratix reptoid. Breez is very determined and always ready for any mission, no matter how difficult. She was once a rookie but showed wisdom and maturity during the battles with Von Nebula and was recognized by Stormer as a full-fledged hero. In 2010, she was armed with energized, laser-shooting boomerangs that are attached to harpoons, and was dispatched alongside Furno, Surge and Stormer to defend Tanker Station 22 from the fire villains. She was also upgraded to 2.0 with advanced multi-tool blades with a saw blaster and grappling hook, plus a cloaking device. In her Breakout form, she has hero-cuffs, a plasma blaster, a Hex energy shield, ankle-mounted boosters, and a double-bladed sabre. Breez will appear in the 2013 Brain Attack theme. She was also assigned to hunt down Thornraxx. She is voiced by Jean Louisa Kelly in the TV series. *'Mark Surge': Competitive and clumsy, Mark has a hot-tempered personality. However, he secretly believes that he was built with a flaw that will make him one day turn evil. He was once a rookie but gained valuable experience during the battles with Von Nebula and was recognized by Stormer as a full-fledged hero. He was armed with twin lightning shooters and shields, and was dispatched alongside Furno, Breez and Stormer to defend Tanker Station 22 from the Fire Villains. In the battle of Tanker Station 22, he was reported missing but found later by Alpha 1 Team. He was upgraded to 2.0 and rearmed with an ice spear shooter that has a climbing hook and a grappler. In his Breakout form, he has a plasma blaster, electricity shooter, and hero-cuffs, and recently captured Splitface. The Brain Attack set trailer confirms him to be in the summer line. He will appear in the second wave of the 2013 Brain Attack theme. He is voiced by Bryton James in the TV series. *'Nathan Evo': One of the first heroes constructed using the factory's upgraded 2.0 system. Calm and collected, Evo drops into a meditative state between battles. He was armed with a multi-tool ice shield featuring a double-barrel ice cannon with dual ice spears, and serves as a tech and medic, constructing and repairing weaponry and keeping his comrades healthy while out in the field. In his breakout form, he is equipped with hero-cuffs and a heavily armored "tank arm" with a plasma blaster on the end. He was instructed to arrest Toxic Reapa, which he has accomplished. The Brain Attack set trailer confirms him to be in the summer line. He was voiced by Tom Kenny in the TV series but was replaced by Jason London from "Breakout - Part One" onwards. He will appear in the second wave of the 2013 Brain Attack theme. *'Julius Nex': One of the first Heroes constructed using the factory's upgraded 2.0 system. He also has a crush on Breez. Enthusiastic and exuberant, Nex is in charge of Hero Factory's outreach program, communicating directly with the general public through services such as social networking sites. He carries a multi-tool ice shield featuring an enhanced ice power-up, cutting blades, and is an all-around "tech-savvy" guy. He acts as a heavy-duty fighter and communications expert. He has been recently upgraded with the new 3.0 system and now has a helmet that resembles a Smilodon for warding off animals and a double-bladed tiger claw. With all this new equipment, he and the rest of the Alpha 1 Team have traveled to Quatros to stop Witch Doctor. In his Breakout form, Nex is armed with hero-cuffs, a plasma blaster, and a precision laser cutter. He is voiced by Jason Canning in the TV series. *'Rocka': The latest member of the Alpha 1 Team. He was at first a 2.0 Hero and he later got the new 3.0 system. He has gold and black armor and a white hero core. Rocka carries a large multifunctional double claw combo tool on his right hand. Rocka also has a helmet which resembles a lion head, which he uses to ward off attacking animals. He was sent to assist Aldous Witch in a small operation on Quatros, but, when he found that Aldous had turned into the evil Witch Doctor, he called for backup from the Alpha 1 Team to stop him. On Quatros, he was given an "XL" form in order to defeat Witch Doctor. In his Breakout form, Rocka wields a plasma crossbow, an energy shield and hero-cuffs. He was selected by the Hero Recon Team to apprehend Black Phantom, which he did. The credits of the "Savage Planet" movie identify him as "Daniel Rocka", but it was confirmed as non-canon by Kelly McKiernan of the official Lego Hero Factory story team. Rocka is set to appear in the 2013 Brain Attack theme. He is voiced by Tom Kenny in the TV series. *'Unnamed Rookie':The newest member of the Alpha Team who joined during Mission:Catch em' and Cuff em.'He was assigned to the outer corners of the galaxy to round up criminals.In an issue of a LEGO Club magazine he was seen fighting an Unnamed and Mutated Industrial Robot.You can build this hero using pieces from the breakout versions of Evo,Surge,and Furno. Other Heroes *'Merrick Fortis': The head of Hero Recon Team, armed with a projectile weapon called "Good Old Trustworthy" and a claw. He is armored with a two-toned carbon chest plate, and more recently, a 3.0 upgrade and a pair of wings. *'Thresher': Stormer's predecessor as leader of the Alpha 1 Team. When Stormer first became leader, Thresher willingly relinquished his position, seeing that Stormer had potential. *'Drop ship pilot': A pilot, perhaps simply a member of the Hero Factory staff, found in the Drop Ship set. Villains ] Main Villains *'Von Nebula' (Mark Hamill): Once a rookie from Hero Factory named Von Ness who worked with Stormer (when he was also a rookie) and team leader Thresher, he deserted in the middle of a mission and, blaming Stormer for his own failings, became a villain of pure evil. He carries a Black hole Staff and has vicious spiky armor. Overall, Von Nebula wants nothing more than the destruction of Hero Factory and Preston Stormer. He was eventually trapped in his black hole staff when it was used against him - but was later freed from it by Voltix moments before the mass breakout. As seen at the end of the Breakout episode, he was seemingly the mastermind behind the scheme and gained blueprints of the entire Hero Factory. It is also hinted that he may have created the the evil brain creatures from the 2013 sets "Brain attack!"..[2] *'Fire Lord' (Dee Bradley Baker): Leader of the fire villains. He and his minions were once a group of simple mining robots, mining and constructing on the mining planet of Tallos 5 where he had met Stormer an unspecified time ago (however, now Stormer does not remember meeting him). However, an upgrade to ease recharging ended up with them absorbing enough power to damage their circuits and drive them all insane. Fire Lord's literal thirst for power has driven him and his minions to find more powerful sources of energy. They were then trying to steal hero-pod fuel to power their weapons and themselves (especially Fire Lord himself) at Tanker Station 22. He was taken into custody to be helped by Hero Factory, but was eventually thrown into prison after the treatment proved ineffective, and later escaped with his minions when fellow inmate Black Phantom organized a mass breakout. He has a lava sphere shooter and a lava flame thrower. *'Witch Doctor' (Fred Tatasciore) : An insane robot who was once a mild-mannered professor named Aldous Witch teaching at Hero Factory. Witch's desire for Quaza and the need to prove his theories about the materials capabilities went out of control as he tried to install one in his body at the Quaza chamber. However, Stormer discovered this and stops Aldous' plan. Since Aldous Witch has been working in the Hero Factory for 10 years, he was exiled rather than having himself imprisoned. He traveled to the protected jungle planet of Quatros (one of the last reserves of natural quaza) and started illegally mining for quaza. During his excavation, he discovered a stone skull hidden in an ancient temple built by an extinct race that worshiped the quaza. When he added a sliver of quaza, it did not just give him great powers, it also transformed him into an enormous villain. He then started to control the local wildlife of Quatros (that wildlife being the wasp-like Waspix, the canine-like Fangz, the scorpion-like Scorpio and the gorilla-elephant-like Raw-Jaw) with corrupted quaza spikes to do his bidding. Consequently, the more quaza that was taken from the planet (as it was alive, supported by the quaza), the weaker Quatros would get, and would eventually fall apart. He was eventually stopped and captured by Hero Factory when Stormer broke his staff and destroyed his power. He later escaped prison when Black Phantom organized a mass breakout. *'Black Phantom' (Mark Hamill): A veteran, highly malevolent villain who arranged with Von Nebula and Voltix the mass breakout, then planned to blow up the Factory and transmit its blueprints to Von Nebula. He keeps a pet drone named Arachnix, that can clone itself to deadly effect. It is noted that he has a heavy French accent and usually has a lisp. He also possesses a substance within him called Anti-Quaza (which presumably has the same effect on Quaza as Anti-matter has on Matter; mutual annihilation). He almost succeeds in destroying Hero Factory after transmitting its plans to his employer, but is arrested by Rocka with the help of the other heroes. It was revealed in Secret Missions #2: Legion of Darkness that during the early days of Hero Factory's existence, he formed the Legion of Darkness to destroy Hero Factory, however, he later revealed that he planned on betraying them all. His plan was exposed, and the legion turned on him.[3] ] Criminal Groups *'Von Nebula's Gang': When Von Nebula began his scheme to destroy Preston Stormer and the Hero Factory, he brought together a small group of villains to create various false trails and try to whittle down the Heroes' strength. The members of the team are XPlode (Jeff Glen Bennett), who uses explosives and has a treacherous and short-tempered nature, Rotor (Joel Swetow), who is not very bright and uses his flying blades and blasters in battle, Corroder (Charlie Adler), who uses acid and takes sadistic pleasure in his work, Meltdown (Joel Swetow), who uses degraded nuclear waste as his weapon and is clearly insane, Vapor, a similar robot to Rotor who uses twin blasters, and Thunder (Fred Tatasciore), a dim-witted villain who uses a Nebula Gas Cannon. All but Vapor and Rotor faced off against the heroes in New Stellac City and were captured while Stormer and Furno took down their employer. Rotor was captured earlier by Furno at a mining asteroid, while Vapor, the only villain who was not featured personally in the Rise of the Rookies miniseries, was later captured by Bulk and Furno. However all the gang escaped when the mass breakout occurred. The only one who has been seen to be recaptured is XPlode. *'Fire Villains': When Fire Lord and a few other robots malfunctioned, they became a small gang and took to raiding fuel stations to satiate their addiction to power. These other robots were Drilldozer (Fred Tatasciore), a drill-wielding heavy-weight robot, Jetbug (Tom Kenny), a flying robot given to uncontrollable laughter, and Nitroblast (Stephen Stanton), a sycophant safe-cracker who is fanatically loyal to the Fire Lord's schemes. They defeat the heroes when they attacked Tanker Station 22, but the upgraded heroes and their rookie backup manage to take them and their leader down. They are all taken to the Hero Factory for repair, but it eventually proves futile and they are put into their prison, only escaping when the mass breakout was orchestrated. *'Legion of Darkness': A group formed by Black Phantom to take down the Hero Factory, although they eventually dispensed with their treacherous leader and dispersed.[3] They consist of Toxic Reapa (Nick Jameson), a crazed and power-hungry rogue from the planet Z'chaya, Jawblade (Steve Wilcox), a shark from Scylla who stole Furno's old blade weapons and sought a rusting agent to defend himself from Hero attacks, Splitface (Maurice LaMarche), a cybernetic schizophrenic with a split personality, Voltix (Rick dick Wasserman), a villain from Tansari VI who sought to create the ultimate electric weapon, Speeda Demon (Charlie Adler), a speed-obsessed robot equivalent of a highwayman, Thornraxx, a wasp-like alien renegade from Hive Planet, XT4, a multi-armed former working robot who was reprogrammed for villainy by Black Phantom Each member of the Legion was captured and imprisoned, but Voltix schemed with Black Phantom and Von Nebula and instigated the breakout. As of the present, all members of the Legion except XT4 have been recaptured. *'Brain Factory': An organization seemingly created by the mastermind behind the mass breakout in direct opposition to the Hero Factory. It is within this factory that the parasite brains are created and sent out across the galaxy, infecting and mutating various lifeforms into fighting machines to attack the Hero Factory, including Dragon Bolt, an electrical dragon, Ogrum, a species from Quatros, Aquagon a lifeform at home in the water, Scarox, a insectile creature, Pyrox, a creature from a volcanic world, Bruizer, a silicate lifeform from a rocky planet, and Frost Beast, an icy monster. edit Other villains *'Silver': A gigantic drone that once attacked New Stellac City during Stormer's early life. It was during this mission where Von Ness, later Von Nebula, defected the group, fleeing out of cowardice. After failing to stop Von Ness's escape, Stormer jumped off the Drop Ship Von Ness was escaping in and disabled the drone by blinding it, and then crossing its power cables. The drone was later taken apart and turned into a monument at a ceremony commending Stormer's bravery. This villain is not an official set, but the winning design of a fan creation contest. *'Core Hunter': A vicious and very intelligent black and red villain with razor-spike armor, a hero core remover, a multi-vision mask and a plasma shooter (stolen from one of his victims). A renegade hero, he hunts the quaza cores of heroes, and adds them to his collection (making him the robot equivalent of a trophy hunter or a serial killer). Unlike most villains, Core Hunter stayed in Makuhero City during the breakout to collect more cores. He is the only villain in the "Breakout" series to not have been a member of the Legion of Darkness. In the Hero Factory novel The Doom Box, he tried to activate the Doom Box, a powerful weapon created and hidden away by an unknown civilization. In the resulting battle, he fought several heroes and was hit with a shrinking ray, shrinking him into microscopic size. His current status is unknown.[4] Set information The first Hero Factory sets were released on July 3, 2010 in the United Kingdom with the remaining five sets being released on July 4, 12, and 24. All original fifteen sets were released in the United States on July 24, 2010.[5] Within the 15 sets released there are six hero characters, six villain characters, two vehicles, and a hero and villain limited edition set. The six hero sets are packaged in cylindrical canisters and contain around 17 to 19 pieces. The hero sets have an age rating of 6–16 and are around 15 cm (6") tall.56 The villain sets are packaged in rectangular boxes and contain 40 to 50 pieces.[5] The exception is the Von Nebula and Rotor sets which have 156 and 145 pieces respectively and are packaged in a larger box.78 All the villain sets have an age rating of 7–16 and are around 17 cm (7") tall besides Von Nebula who is around 21 cm (9") tall and has an age rating of 9–16 and Rotor who is around 20 cm (8") and has an age rating of 8–16.578 The two vehicle sets are Furno Bike and Drop Ship. The Furno Bike set includes 165 pieces and has an age rating of 8–16. It contains a 30 cm (12") long motor bike and the hero character William Furno.[9] The Drop Ship contains 390 pieces and has an age rating of 9–16. It contains a 43 cm (17") Drop Ship and a Hero Factory Pilot.10 The Duncan Bulk and Vapour set contains 89 pieces and has an age rating of 8–16. It includes the hero Duncan Bulk, and the villain Vapour, with both figures being around 15 cm (6") tall.11 In December 2010 ten new sets were released. The sets included six hero sets and four villain sets. The hero sets contain around 30 pieces, have an age rating of 6–16, and are around 17 cm (7") tall.5 The heroes sets are in rebuilt forms also known as 2.0 form and include Stormer 2.0, Furno 2.0, Breez 2.0, Surge 2.0, Evo 2.0 and Nex 2.0.5 The four villain sets form the Fire Villain storyline. Three of the villain sets - Drilldozer, Jetbug, and Nitroblast, contain around 60 pieces, have an age rating of 7–16, and are around 21 cm (8").5 The exception is the set Fire Lord which contains 125 pieces, stands around 26 cm (10"), and has an age rating of 9–16.12 Hero Factory Hero Factory Hero Factory